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Microsoft Power Apps is one of the main Power Platform products, the suite created by Microsoft to assist and simplify the development of internal business telematics processes. The suite includes Power Automate for creating automation systems, Power BI for data analysis and creating dynamic reports, and Power Apps for developing customized applications.
In a nutshell, it is an app development solution based on cloud technology that allows you to create tailor-made applications. without having to start from scratch and without the need for any programming knowledge, thanks to a versatile and intuitive system, similar to a virtual construction set. You can design the appearance and operation of the app, connect it to different types of data, such as Excel sheets or databases, and have it run on computers, tablet or telephones.
Power Apps helps to transform your ideas into digital realities in a simple and intuitive way, providing its users with a complete and functional development environment, and to save on programming and distribution costs.
Let's start with a general overview of the various features before going into a little more detail.
Microsoft Power Apps, thanks to an interface Drag & Drop, allows you to choose from a collection of predefined and reusable components and drag them directly onto the work screen to model the structure and contents of an application.
These elements cover common use cases, such as human resources administration and order management, and provide a solid base from which to start during the design and development phases.
The platform also includes numerous tools to connect to a wide range of data sources, including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, SQL Server and Common Data Service.
Once connected to one of these data sources, the app will allow users to access and use the information relevant to their needs without complications and with the certainty that it is always up to date.
Continuing on the subject of integration, PowerApps is able to interface with other Microsoft services and products, such as Microsoft Teams, Power BI and Azure. This allows companies to take advantage of the additional functionality offered by these services within their apps, improving the experience for their users and ensuring the efficiency and security of Microsoft environments.
So far, we've taken a general look at the features of PowerApps. Let's take a closer look at what makes it different and what it can offer for the development of your own business apps.
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There are three main types of apps that can be developed with Power Apps of Microsoft Power Platform:
For the avoidance of doubt, despite being an essential component of the Power Apps ecosystem, we will exclude automated workflows that can be achieved with the help of Power Automate as they are not technically applications.
Canvas apps are apps built from scratch by the user. This type guarantees the company the possibility to give top priority to customizing your app, allowing him to work on a metaphorical “blank canvas” in total freedom at the cost of longer development times.
Much more flexible than template apps, canvas apps are perfect for all those companies that need customized solutions to meet their most specific needs.
In fact, you can act on every single component of the application: from the graphic interface to the individual functionalities up to the different data logics.
In terms of data, canvas apps, in addition to having the ability to connect to more than 200 different sources, allow greater flexibility in managing and displaying the information obtained in a personalized way compared to model apps.
In addition, for some time now, Power Apps has supported the development of canvas apps starting from individual collections of data originating from Dataverse or AppSource.
Model-based apps, on the other hand, are built starting from one of the several predefined templates made available by Power Apps, or from a model configured by the user in Dataverse.
In the latter case, the data is imported into Microsoft Dataverse, the platform made available together with Power Apps to store information from different sources and use it to create form templates, visualizations, business rules and business processes.
Whether it is a Power Apps or Dataverse model, the advantage remains in any case that it is a quick and efficient solution to develop an app in a short time, already tested and ready for use by virtue of its predefined structure.
All this, however, at the expense of a greater possibility of customization, which in model-based apps is much more marginal than in canvas apps.
Portals are the last category of products that a user can develop through the low-code mode of Power Apps.
These are extensions of business applications that allow an organization to extend access to its information to a larger audience, which could consist of customers, partners and suppliers, as well as the employees themselves.
Portals often take the form of websites, protected by Microsoft security protocols and equipped with a wide range of functionalities, ranging from data and user management to integration with external work apps (for example Power BI, SharePoint or Microsoft 365 Dynamics applications).
The updates arrived this year with the Wave 1 They include new design features, improvements in the content management and new options for integration with other applications and services such as Dynamics 365 and SharePoint to offer even richer and more interactive user experiences.
Furthermore Power Apps Portals now offers new advanced search capabilities that allow customers to get the information they need more quickly by using filters, keywords and other search options to narrow down results and find exactly what they're looking for.
Integrations in Microsoft Power Apps allow the application to communicate and interact with other applications, services, or external data sources. They work through the use of connectors, which are preconfigured to connect to a wide range of external services and platforms.
Integrating other apps is nothing more than merge different applications or programs to make them work together more efficiently.
In a business environment, having different apps with different functions and formats and extensions that are not compatible is a rather common reality. Integrating them into Power Apps allows the use of functions from each of these apps within a single, convenient application.
Enterprise Power Apps integrations may vary depending on the company's specific needs. We will therefore limit ourselves to describing some of the most common cases in which a company can benefit from the integration between Power Apps and other business applications.
Through integration with Office 365, Power Apps allows you to access and use data from applications such as Excel, SharePoint and Outlook. For example, you can access data from SharePoint lists, allow users to load expense data directly from an existing Excel spreadsheet, or send emails using Outlook directly from the app.
Integrate the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM may allow users to view and update customer information, sales opportunities and activities directly from an app developed with Power Apps.
The integration with Microsoft Azure allows you to create powerful and scalable business apps that make the most of Azure's advanced capabilities for data storage and analysis.
With Azure SQL Database, an inventory management app could store and manage inventory data in a scalable and reliable cloud database. A warehouse could update the inventory level directly from the Power Apps app and the data would be automatically updated in the Azure SQL database.
Gli Azure Cognitive Services can be integrated into an app for human resources management and used to analyze resumes or for a sales analysis app that allows you to use the text analysis functionality of Cognitive Services to extract key information from customer comments or online reviews.
Nella Wave 1 updates to Power Platform, the integration between Power Apps and Microsoft Teams has been drastically improved and now Teams allows you to incorporate apps created with Power Apps directly into the work environment.
Apps integrated with Teams can send notifications and updates to users directly through Teams, access resources such as team member data, shared files and it is now possible to add an app as a card within a channel or chat, allowing users to access the app directly from Teams and easily collaborate on projects or business processes without having to change applications and always remaining in communication.
Microsoft Power Apps also allows integration with third-party systems, allowing you to connect apps to other applications or external services used by your company, such as online payment services or geolocation services to track the location of shipments in real time.
In addition, it allows you to take advantage of the advantages of modern cloud-based apps while continuing to use data already present in business systems, allowing you to connect your app to older systems that may have been in the past or are still being used by a company.
Creating a business app with Power Apps can be extremely easy and fast.
To get started, you need to log in to the Power Apps portal with your Microsoft account and if you don't have one, don't worry. In fact, a few clicks will be enough to create an account and in addition, it is completely free.
Once you arrive on the Power Apps home page, just click on "Create" to select the type of app you want to work on and start working on its features and contents.
To do this, we will be sent back to Power Apps Studio, its integrated development environment (Integrated Development Environment or IDE) that allows the development of apps in low-code mode. The interface and the content development process in Power Apps Studio may be very similar to that of a PowerPoint presentation for users (especially those who are less experienced).
In the left panel, we will have a list of all the commands and a preview of the different screens of the app we are working on. The list of commands that can be used to create your own app is vast and exhaustive and covers essentially every possible user need in terms of functions and tools for developing their business app.
In the right panel, we will find the layout, properties and data sources settings.
From November 1, 2023, the powerful Microsoft Copilot, a code completion tool based on OpenAI's Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model and designed to assist developers by providing suggestions and automatic completes while writing code, is available on Microsoft Power Apps.
Developers can now easily start creating an application with a short description and Power Apps will instantly generate the described app, complete with a data table and backend logic.
To show the potential of this tool in the development of business apps, let's do a small test, taking as an example the creation of an app for tracking the daily activities of a business team.
Let's start Power Apps and select "Start from scratch" to create a new app. When creating the app, we activate Copilot by clicking on the toolbar.
At this point, we type in a short description of our app, such as "Track team activity" and ask Copilot to create a welcome screen. Copilot will suggest code to create a welcome screen with a title and a presentation message.
Once we're happy with the result, we ask Copilot to add a list of tasks to the home screen. Once again, Copilot will suggest code to create a task list that displays the activities added by team members.
Finally, we can ask Copilot to add code to save the new activities entered by team members. Copilot will run immediately, providing us with code to connect the form to the data source (such as a SharePoint table) and to save the data entered by our team members.
Once finished, we test the operation of the app from the Power Apps editor to verify that there are no malfunctions. Once you are sure that everything is in order, the app is ready to be distributed across all supported platforms.
And that's it, our app created in Microsoft Power Apps is functional and ready for immediate use.
The steps mentioned above can be used to develop any application according to your needs, and the use of the new Microsoft Copilot features can make the process even faster and simpler than before, thanks to the low-code development capabilities offered by Microsoft Power Apps.
Microsoft Power Apps is a cloud-based app development platform that enables users to create custom applications without extensive programming knowledge. It is part of Microsoft's Power Platform, which also includes Power Automate and Power BI.
Canvas apps offer complete customization, allowing users to design from a blank slate, while Model apps are built using predefined templates, offering quicker development but less flexibility.
Power Apps Portals are web-based extensions that allow organizations to share data and functionalities with external users like customers and partners.
Power Apps integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, and Teams, allowing for enhanced data sharing, app functionality, and collaboration.
Copilot, based on OpenAI’s GPT model, helps developers by generating code and completing tasks, significantly speeding up the app development process.
Common integrations include connecting Power Apps with Office 365 for data management, Dynamics 365 for CRM functionalities, and Azure for scalable cloud solutions.
The Modern Work team effectively and swiftly addresses IT needs, primarily focusing on software development. The technical staff is well-trained in implementing software projects using Microsoft technology stacks and is skilled in managing both agile and long-term projects.
